Is Laughter Really the Best Medicine?

The best? Come on.

Is laughter really the best medicine? Or is that just one of those medical myths, like gum stays in your system for 7 years after you swallow it or that warm milk helps you fall asleep?

Is it just one of those myths, like gum stays in your system for 7 years after you swallow it.

The reason they say that warm milk helps you fall asleep, of course, is that it contains tryptophan, like turkey does. You eat turkey, you fall asleep, and the next thing you know, you’re up at five in the morning standing in line at Staples with a fax machine under your arm.

But yes, turkey has tryptophan, and tryptophan puts you to sleep. But do you know how much turkey you’d need to eat in order to get enough tryptophan to actually put you to sleep? Forty pounds, according to experts. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when they were conducting these tests.

“He ate 35 pounds, and he’s still not asleep! Go get another bird!”

No, the thing that actually puts you to sleep is the fact that you have a big warm meal sitting in your tummy. That’s why a lot of us tend to fall asleep early on Friday nights, sometimes before we’ve even left the Shabbat table.

So not everything you hear about medicine is necessarily true. Nevertheless, I’ve always been a big proponent of the “laughter is the best medicine” adage, mainly because I can’t afford decent health insurance. My health insurance doesn’t actually cover anything health related. (I mainly have it because if you don’t have health insurance, you’re more likely to get sick. For the most part, having health insurance is a good luck measure against getting sick.) Basically, I have a bunch of people in a corporate building somewhere whom I notify when I’m not feeling well, and after transferring me to everyone in the entire company at least once, they cheerfully notify me that they don’t care. And also that all my insurance is going to cover is the letter telling me that they don’t care, in case I didn’t understand it properly over the phone. But at least I have laughter.

Is laughter the best medicine? I don’t know. But it doesn’t hurt. On the other hand, if you go to a hospital, I doubt you’re going to see any doctors tickling their patients.

“Coochie coochie coo! How are your broken ribs now? Any better?”

No, they don’t tickle the patients. The medical community tends to frown on that. But laughter definitely does work as a medicine. It helps people deal with stress, depression, social anxiety, and conflict, and it also works wonders on various types of heart disease. And if you see someone fall and hurt himself, you can just laugh and laugh, and it does make you feel better, and then eventually the guy will just grumble and go away. In other words, it does get rid of pain. And laughter is also the best medicine for various psychological problems. Unless it’s the cackling kind of laughter that villains do. That doesn’t solve anything, but it does clear the sinuses.

But on the other hand, laughter is maybe not the best medicine for, say, athlete’s foot. You can laugh, but it’s still going to itch. The best medicine for athlete’s foot is a good, rough carpet. Sorry for that visual.

But I definitely think we should promote laughter more as a medicine; get it out there so more people know to use it. Like we should have commercials, sort of like the other drug commercials, where they introduce a medicine, but they never say what it’s supposed to combat. But apparently, if you take the medicine, you can throw a football and help your spouse across a brook. We don’t know exactly what laughter heals either, so it will fit right in.

Like we could say, “Ask your doctor about Laughter.” All those commercials say that. Like that’s my job now – to go to the doctor and start suggesting random medicines when I don’t even know what they do.

ME: “How about Zolax?”DOCTOR: “No, that’s for pregnant women.”ME: “How about Tryptophan?”DOCTOR: “Can you swallow a pill that big?”ME: “How about Cuisinart?”DOCTOR: “How about I get an unlisted address?”

How is this my job? The system I’ve always used in the past is that is I go to the doctor, he tells me what’s wrong with me and then he suggests what I should take to fix it. I doubt I’m going to come up with anything he hasn’t heard of.

ME: “Should I be taking Voldemort?”DOCTOR: “Yeah, that sounds good. You’ll be able to ride a horse!”Me: “Awesome! I can’t even do that now!”

Though if we did a commercial for Laughter, we’d of course have to put in all the warnings:

“Laughter is not for everyone. People who hate life or have never been kids should not take Laughter. Do not take Laughter if you’re holding soup. Laughter is also not for dentists who are holding a drill in someone’s mouth.

So yeah -- it’s not for everyone, we’re not sure what it cures, and there are side effects. Plus it’s infectious and addictive. I’ve been reading jokes since I was a kid, and I don’t know if I can stop. I don’t think I want to stop. I like how it makes me feel. It’s a drug, like Charlie Sheen.

So no, I don’t know if it’s the best medicine. But it’s definitely the best tasting medicine, followed closely by the pink stuff that smells like bubble gum and those Advils with the candy coating. It’s kind of like how you say that ice cream is the best food. It’s obviously not the best food for you, but hands down, you’d rather have ice cream than broccoli. So next time you’re sick, flush your meds down the toilet and laugh while you’re doing it. Actually, that’s terrible advice. But hey -- I’m not a doctor. Don’t listen to me.

Featured at Aish.com:

About the Author

Mordechai Schmutter writes a weekly humor column for Hamodia, a monthly humorous advice column for The Jewish Press, and a comic strip for The 20s and 30s of Brooklyn. He is also the author of the books, Don’t Yell “Challah” in a Crowded Matzah Bakery, A Clever Title Goes Here, This Side Up, Cholent Mix, and What Is This - Some Kind of Joke? all published by Israel Book Shop. In his spare time, which doesn't exist, he attempts to teach Language Arts to a bunch of high school guys, most of whom are usually too upset that he showed up on any given day to even pay attention to his lessons. He is also available to do stand-up comedy. He lives in New Jersey, but no longer remembers why.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 10

(9)
Billy Balano,
February 12, 2015 8:46 PM

Rx. LOL

I agree, laughter is some sort of what they call "upper" drug. Just be careful, don't get overdozed. Bloating and gas might be experienced by those taking this "medicine" more than what is prescribed.

(8)
Frederica Steller,
December 30, 2013 6:22 PM

Is what doctors are telling us the truth, or just a lot of bs?

Laughter is the best medicine! A good long belly laugh can wear you out enough, that not only will you sleep quicker; but, you'll feel better, too.

(7)
chris,
November 3, 2012 10:53 AM

Laughter is a painkiller key word being pain therefore its useless for diseases and only good for injuries

(6)
Chaiah Schwab,
April 10, 2011 3:20 AM

Thanks!

This was REALLY "LOL" You have such a zechut (merit) for giving the gift of laughter to so many!

(5)
Anonymous,
April 8, 2011 6:48 PM

Great article!!

Great article- thanks for the laughs! I feel better already... :)

(4)
SHIRLEY PERLUSS,
April 6, 2011 5:30 AM

GREAT ,FUNNY ARTICLE

WE WERE ROLLING WITH "LAUGHTER"
THANKS

(3)
Sarah,
April 6, 2011 4:38 AM

Thanks for this funny and clever piece! Wow, did
I need a laugh like this, today! Just came from a
doctor's visit where he didn't want to hear my
symptoms, and made me feel bad for even coming
in! Frankly, I need to OVERDOSE on laughter
after seeing this jerk! Your writing helps, so
THANKS!!!

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!